Combined nutritional and environmental life cycle assessment of fruits and vegetables
Abstract
Nutritional health effects from the ‘use stage’ of the life cycle of food products can be substantial, especially for fruits and vegetables. To assess potential one-serving increases in fruit and vegetable consumption in Europe, we employ the Combined Nutritional and Environmental LCA (CONE-LCA) framework that compares environmental and nutritional effects of foods in a common end -point metric, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY). In the assessment, environmental health impact categories include green house gases, particulate matter (PM), and pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables, while for nutrition we consider all health outcomes associated with fruit and vegetable consumption based on epidemiological studies from the global burden of disease (GBD). Findings suggest that one fruit/vegetable serving increase may lead to substantial nutritional health benefits even when considering uncertainty; 35 μDALY/serving fruit benefit compared to a factor 10 lower impact. Replacing detrimental foods, such as trans-fat and red meat, with fruits or vegetables further enhances health benefit. This study illustrates the importance of considering nutritional effects in food-LCA.
Info
Conference Paper, 2016
UN SDG Classification
DK Main Research Area
Science/Technology
